The vehicle for this investigation will the contemporary ceiling (specifically the “suspended” or “false” ceiling). Typically understood as a horizontal plane (usually gridded) of modular surfaces set below the floor slab to conceal the “guts” of the building, the false ceiling is an omnipresent condition that lacks design intervention beyond the accommodation (often poorly) of functional and utilitarian conditions. While seemingly banal and ordinary, the false ceiling is both a literal one-to-one scale architectural problem as well as a potential microcosm of architectural issues - formal features, order/organization, assembly logics, fabrication efficiencies, integration of performance and function, and surface articulation (color, texture, reflection).
panel plan
The panel design is inspired by the simple, yet elegant form of a shell. A shell is essentially an exoskeleton and the panel is an abstraction of it. The design explores both textural and functional properties of a shell. Formal explorations began with the creation of a minimal shape using a single curved line. On using extrusion and loft tools we were able to achieve a smooth shell-like form. The addition of surface undulations using points and perforations using paneling tools helped us express the organic nature of a shell. Coloration and lighting play an important role in accentuating the effect of the panel when assembled together. The interior surface of the panel is to be lined with a high contrast color which would dissipate as colored light and illuminate the space after the installation with light fixtures which will be concealed in the shell. The material selection of the panel is envisioned to be soft in order to incorporate acoustic design properties of the space. The assembly consists of the replication of a three-part panel; this allows for flexibility in organization to create various patterns for the ceiling.
reflective ceiling plan
ceiling section
